More than 10,000 of America’s best and brightest youth traveled to the historic city of Nashville to make some history of their own as they showcased their talents as future business leaders.

Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), the largest and oldest student business organization, held its National Leadership Conference in Nashville on June 29-July 2.

Participants from across the United States and two countries were in attendance for this exciting conference to sharpen their core business skills, expand their networks, and participate in more than 60 business and business-related competitive events.

Eleven students from Western Wayne High School were among the 10,000. Eight students were recognized on stage as national winners during the Awards of Excellence program.

The team of Kayla Bolduc, Bethany Giombetti, Joe Clauss, Adam Curtis, and Zachary Curtis captured a third place in the Parliamentary Procedure event.

This award was the culmination of months of hard work and preparation.

Each of the students had to take a 100-question test on parliamentary procedure concepts and FBLA Bylaws.

The top 15 teams then advanced to a final round in which each had to perform a simulated business meeting given a specific case study given to them 20 minutes earlier.

All five team members will be seniors in the fall.

In the FBLA Principles & Procedures event, Adam Mattern placed sixth and Jillian Weston, ninth, while Alaina Lengner was honored with an eighth place in Intro to Parliamentary Procedure.

Both of these events are for ninth and tenth-grade students only.

These awards were part of a comprehensive events program sponsored by FBLA that recognizes and rewards excellence in a broad range of business and career-related areas.

For many students, the competitive events are the capstone activity of their academic careers.

In addition to the competition, students immersed themselves in educational workshops, visited an information-packed exhibit hall, and participated in the process to elect the 2014-2015 national officer team.

Accompanying the students were FBLA advisers Fran Vitovsky and Theresa Lubash.

Fran Vitovsky was recognized as Pennsylvania’s Outstanding Adviser of the Year.

The Pennsylvania delegation began its trip with a stop in Memphis, Tennessee, with stops at Graceland, Blues City Café, a tour of Beale Street and the rest of the city.

Page 2 of 2 - Upon arrival in Nashville, the delegation visited the Country Music Walk of Fame, the Grand Ole Opry, the Wildhorse Saloon, and dinner and a tour of Barbara Mandrel’s Mansion, Fontanel.

The students would like to thank all the local businesses and former members who made monetary donations to help offset the cost of the trip.